Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:36 AM
Jun 30, 2016 News
With a growing number of inmates on remand in overcrowded penal facilities the report on the Commission of Inquiry, (COI) into the recent Camp Street prison disturbances has highlighted the need for guidelines to be crafted for Magistrates and Judges with regard to the issuance of bail.
The report outlined that when the ratio of remand to convicted prisoners was 30/70 in 2004, the Criminal Justice Review Committee (CJRC) had recommended that the disparity, inequity and inconsistency of Magistrates’ discretion could only be addressed by a Bail Act in order to achieve some degree of uniformity in the grant of bail.
Citing the 2004 recommendations the report said that in addition to legislation, a further recommendation from the CJRC called for specific guidelines to be crafted for Magistrates and Judges with regard to bail.
“In light of the failure of this and a plethora of similar recommendations from all quarters to penetrate Magisterial practice, the Commission of Inquiry, COI is calling for more effective enforcement of such recommendations.”
The document noted that bail is a constitutional right except in cases where the likelihood exists of the accused not appearing for the trial for indictable offences. Murder and treason are the only charges for which bail is expressly denied.
“In practice, however, Magistrates, in particular, are extending the discretionary powers they enjoy in indictable matters to routinely denying bail in summary offences.”
“Rather than evidence that a person will not appear for trial, remand figures suggest that Magistrates are substituting a presumption of guilt for a presumption of innocence. As a result, two-thirds of all prisoners in Camp Street are on remand (604/1014). Of the 604 remand prisoners in Camp Street, 193 (32%) are charged with murder, the other 68%, over-two thirds, are eligible for bail.”
While the immediate cause of the abuse of bail procedures at the Magisterial level is most evident, the report outlined that the major obstacle remains a judicial culture in which bail is viewed as “a judicial gift.”
As with sentencing, the very notion of a bail ‘policy’ or ‘guidelines’ is considered by the more conservative as an offensive ‘executive’ intrusion into judicial autonomy.
“Such attitudes are consistent with bygone ages, in which notions such as democracy, human dignity and constitutional rights were foreign to the judicial culture. It has been patently clear to both Magistrates and defence Lawyers for some years that the back-log of cases in the Guyana courts is such, that the constitutional rights of the accused to a trial within a reasonable time is routinely violated. In addition to violating this constitutional right, refusal of bail violates all the rights associated with committal to over-crowded prisons.
However, avoidance of unconstitutionality as a ‘special reason’ for bail in narcotics cases has not, to our knowledge, ever been advanced in narcotics cases.
Additionally the Commission said that the illustration of the lack of professional energy and standards in the administration of justice in both the Bar and Bench in Guyana is well exemplified by reference to bail in narcotics cases.
“Refusal of bail in narcotics cases has become virtually clear in Guyana despite the obvious injustice involved and its significant contribution to over-crowding of prisons.”
“Section 73 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Act 1999 Act precludes granting of bail in all cases unless ‘special reasons’ can be advanced. ‘Special reasons’ has been reduced in practice by both the Bar and Bench to issues related to the substance i.e. quantity, circumstances etc. without reference to the person of the accused, as pointed out in the CJRC Report referred to earlier,” the document stated.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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